


you can do that?

by Waddles889



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Comfort, Coming Out, Fluff, Gay Alphonse Elric, Gen, Parental Riza Hawkeye, can you believe gay al isnt its own tag thats so sad, i would say hurt/comfort but the hurt is like SO minimal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29835528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waddles889/pseuds/Waddles889
Summary: “You said your friend had a-- had a wife?”Riza paused, then continued signing paperwork. “Mhm. They got married a couple years back, though her wife travels a lot due to her job.”Al went quiet for a moment before speaking again. “I didn’t-- I didn’t know you could do that.”ORAl is gay and comes out to Riza
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Riza Hawkeye
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	you can do that?

**Author's Note:**

> i have taken matters into my own hands

Something was bothering Alphonse.

Riza found it very easy to read Al. His body language was very exaggerated, likely a habit he’d picked up to compensate for his lack of facial expressions. Currently, he sat on the couch and stared at the wall, hunched over with his forearms resting on his thighs, hands clasped together. Earlier, he’d been bouncing his knee, but the sound of metal clanking against metal forced him to stop after only a few seconds.

The brothers had just returned from another dead end mission, so there was a possibility his distress was caused by that, but Riza wasn’t sure.

Whatever it was, Edward could handle it. Riza wasn’t really fit to deal with emotions.

Ed’s report in the Colonel’s office was taking longer than usual. Riza glanced at the clock. Normally, she’d wait for Roy to finish his work before leaving, but she had a dinner meeting she had to get to, so…

Riza stacked her paperwork, closed it inside the file, and dropped it into her desk drawer.

“Woah, packing up already?” Havoc said. “I’ve never seen you leave before me.”

“I’m meeting a friend later,” Riza said. “Her wife is out of town, so she invited a couple friends to dinner.”

Across the room, Alphonse looked up.

“I didn’t know you had fr--” Havoc cut himself off. “Nevermind. Don’t kill me.”

Riza raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed, before standing and grabbing her bag. She stopped at the office door and called over her shoulder, “It was nice to see you, Alphonse. Have a nice night.”

“Oh, um. Thank you, Lieutenant Hawkeye, you too.”

“What, the kid gets a goodbye and not us?” Breda said, only half-joking.

“Earn it next time,” Riza said, and shut the door behind her.

~~~

The office was silent except for the ticking of the clock and the scratch of Riza’s pen on the paper. Moonlight stretched across the floor, only interrupted by the warm glow of Riza’s desk lamp.

Riza sighed and rubbed her forehead. The rest of the team had left hours ago, but she was stuck making sure Roy’s paperwork was done on top of finishing the rest of her reports.

She glanced at the clock. Eleven.

Well, she might as well get some coffee if she was going to be here for much longer. She rose from her chair and started down the hall--

\--and immediately collided with something tall and metal.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry Lieutenant Hawkeye!”

“Alphonse?”

Al leaned down and extended a hand to pull her up, which Riza took. “Yeah, uh, sorry. I was just here to turn in Brother’s report. Again.”

“Didn’t he do that yesterday?”

“Colonel Mustang said it was illegible so he had to rewrite it, and then he fell asleep, so I thought I’d just take it over while he was sleeping…”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Alphonse.” Riza nodded at the report in his hands. “I’ve still got some work to do tonight, so I can file that for you, if you’d like.”

“Oh, that would be really nice, thanks!” Al said. He handed the paper over to Riza, then stopped. “Wait, it’s so late already!”

Riza shrugged. “It’s not too bad. I’ve had worse.”

“I, uh…” Al looked down at his hands. “Um. I can’t sleep, so. If you wanted company, I wouldn’t mind…”

Riza opened her mouth to decline, then hesitated. It was easy to forget sometimes, but at other times it was  _ all _ she could think about: Alphonse was just a child. Fourteen, if she remembered correctly. This wasn’t an offer to wait with her, this was a plea.

A plea for company from a lonely child.

Riza smiled and took the report from Al. “I’d like that.”

Al looked up. “Really?”

“Yes. I was on my way to make some coffee before returning to work, if you’d like to tag along.”

Al nodded emphatically. “Yes, please.”

He followed her down the hall and watched her make her coffee, then followed her back to the office. Riza was struck by how much quieter he was than Ed, despite the loud clanking of metal against metal every time he took so much as a step.

Riza took her place at her desk and opened Ed’s report. Al sat against the wall, knees pulled to his chest. She got back into her rhythm, scanning through paperwork and signing off (sometimes with her own signature, sometimes with Roy’s).

“How was your dinner? With your friend?” Al said suddenly. Riza glanced up.

“Oh, it was fine. Not my favorite restaurant, but the company made up for that.”

“You said your friend had a-- had a wife?”

Riza paused, then continued signing paperwork. “Mhm. They got married a couple years back, though her wife travels a lot due to her job.”

Al went quiet for a moment before speaking again. “I didn’t-- I didn’t know you could do that.”

His voice was soft. Riza had to strain her ears to hear him.

Al crossed his arms on top of his knees and rested his chin on his forearms. “I didn’t know you could-- I didn’t know girls could marry other--”

Riza carefully set her pen down. She waited.

Al took a shaky breath (or at least made the sound of it). He stared at the floor. “Would it be weird if I… if I didn’t want to marry a girl?”

Well,  _ this _ was interesting. Riza thought if either of them wasn’t straight, it would be Ed, but she could see this too. It hadn’t been in her plans that night to help a child come out to her, but she couldn’t help but feel a little honored that he trusted her.

“What do you mean, Al?” Riza coaxed.

“I mean that-- well, whenever people ask me about girls or if I want a girlfriend, I never know what to say. When people ask me if I want a family after all of this is over, I don’t know what to tell them. Because-- because I think I  _ do, _ but I don’t--” he cut himself off.

Riza tapped her finger on the desk. 

“I think whoever you end up with will be very lucky, Alphonse,” she said.

Al pulled his knees closer to his chest. “I think I’m gay,” he whispered. “Is that weird?”

“You know it isn’t,” Riza said. “I meant it. Whoever you end up with will be very lucky to have you.”

“You think so?”

“I know.”

“Oh.”

Al unwrapped his arms from around his knees and crossed his legs, letting his shoulders drop. He let out a soft giggle, relieved and maybe a little hysterical. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Call me Riza.”

Al giggled again. “Thank you, Miss Riza.”

“I’m honored you told me. Have you talked to your brother yet?”

“No. I know he won’t be weirded out, but I’m not ready to yet.”

“That’s fine. Take your time. He cares about you, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Yeah, he will. Brother’s great like that.”

Riza smiled and signed another piece of paperwork. Al watched the clock across the room.

Eventually, Riza’s pile of paperwork diminished around twelve thirty. She stretched and stifled a yawn, putting her pen away.

“I’m wrapping up, so you can head back to your brother if you’d like. Thanks for the company, Alphonse.”

Al stood with a clank. “Yeah!” He glanced out the window at the moon. “It’s kind of late, Lieuten-- Riza. Do you want me to walk you home?”

Riza was perfectly capable of protecting herself. She had at least two guns on her person at all times, was a first lieutenant under Colonel Mustang’s command, and had her own nickname based on her reputation as a sniper.

But this was not a request for her.

“That would be lovely, Alphonse.”

If he could’ve smiled, Riza was sure his face would be lit up with a grin.

**fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> i believe whole heartedly that al is gay and there's virtually NO content PLUS not enough parental riza and al interactions so here i am posting fmab fic in this the year 2021


End file.
